A funny kind of inspiration: Kevin Smith

While we’re waiting for the finalists in the Top 27 Deep-Sea Species, I wanted to tip you to a totally off-topic gambit happening in the media. It’s probably only relevant if you like to make movies for kicks, or write movie scripts. But there’s a few of us here, right?

Lately, I’ve been reading Kevin Smith’s "Porno" is not so hot, but this review at USA Today focuses on what the man did for our generation, which is to help us say, way back with Clerks in 1994, "Hey, if that guy can make a movie, so can I". This was ten years before YouTube.

But actually, the way it turned out for many people was "Hey, if that guy can make a movie, then I can make … an infomercial, or an art film, or a brain cancer documentary, or a deep-sea video. But I just can’t make a 90 minute talkie, man. What’s wrong with me?"

Turns out my credit wasn’t as good as Robert Townsend, and my career was better suited to deep-sea biology. Still want to make that movie, though. Its funny that I have Kevin Smith to thank for it. – PJE